GCSO warns of paving scam

GRAYSON COUNTY, TX -- Grayson County deputies say a common scam has made its way into the Texoma area.

It happens all over the country, someone will come to your door offering to repave your driveway with top notch equipment. They'll complete the service, take your money and leave town. But your drive way will be in worse shape than it was to begin with.

Sheriff's deputies say its happening to residents in Whitewright, but they managed to catch the company before they got out of town.

Whitewright resident Chris Krueger was approached by Harry Cooper with H and Son's Asphalt. The company offered to repave his worn down drive way.

"They had a product that was ground up asphalt that had a cement additive in it. And they noticed that I had some asphalt that needed to be redone," Krueger said.

Krueger said it was the company's fancy equipment and promise of good quality asphalt that sold him on the whole deal. So, H and Son's paved his drive way and Krueger paid them $6.500 for the service. But just days after the work was done, Krueger noticed a problem.

"It ain't hard to scoot around. There's nothing to hold it together at all. It's just gravel," he said.

The drive way was supposed to be three inches of hard asphalt. When Krueger told H and Sons that he was not pleased, he said they weren't willing to fix it. Krueger isn't the only resident who didn't get what was promised to him.

"This paving problem has reoccurred over and over throughout the county with different people being involved," Lt. Ricky Wheeler said.

Lieutenant Ricky Wheeler says the Sheriff's Office knows of three other victims in the Whitewright area who used H and Son's Asphalt. Wheeler says their drive ways are either poorly laid, or the victims were over charged.

When Krueger contacted News 12 about the problem we looked into the company and found that the owner, Harry Cooper, had been charged in Missouri for the common asphalt scam.

We attempted to call Cooper and an H and Son's employee -- our messages were not returned. But authorities say the company is still in town.

"They try to do as much in one area as they can before they get out, and we just happened to be able to catch these people that were there before they were able to leave the area," Wheeler said.

Deputies were able to make contact with the company at a job Friday. They agreed to either reimburse or fix the drive ways. Krueger's $6,500 drive way is supposed to be repaved.

"I want it to be hard asphalt that don't crumble when I drive over it with my tractors," he said. "I think they can make money laying asphalt and do it honestly."

Lt. Wheeler says deputies will be remeasuring those drive ways to make sure residents weren't over charged, and they'll be checking that asphalt to make sure it's legal and environmentally friendly.

He says this paving scam is common and they like to target the elderly. If you're ever approached unsolicited by someone offering construction services, take their business card, get a phone number and a license number. Then, do some research on the company and let authorities know if you think it is a scam.

Online Public Information File

Viewers with disabilities can get assistance accessing this station's FCC Public Inspection File by contacting the station with the information listed below. Questions or concerns relating to the accessibility of the FCC's online public file system should be directed to the FCC at 888-225-5322, 888-835-5322 (TTY), or fccinfo@fcc.gov.